1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a melt-coated preparation containing sorbic acid suitable for use as a preservative in meat and fish paste products such as sausages and boiled fish flesh pastes (known in Japan as "kamaboko"), and to a process for producing the preparation. More specifically the present invention relates to a granular sorbic acid preservative coated with a solid fat such that the sorbic acid does not come into contact with other materials but is released into the meat or fish paste product upon heating.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mori et al. reported using a preparation of sorbic acid in the production of paste products as a preservative and to prevent elution of the acid and the decrease in pH which occurred during grinding of raw meat or fish flesh. This preparation would elute in the heating step used during production of the paste (New Food Industry, Aug. 1, 1966, Vol. 8, No. 8, p. 29).
As a modification of this idea, Ueno et al. invented a sorbic acid preparation for preventing the spoilage of paste products obtained by coating fine particles of sorbic acid with at least 1.5 times its weight of a coating agent composed mainly of a hardened oil having a melting point of 40.degree. to 90.degree. C. and which did not elute at room temperature to produce a coated particle having a diameter of 50 to 300 microns (Japanese Patent Publication No. 14104/70 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,381). This coated sorbic acid preparation contains sorbic acid in an amount not more than about 0.67 times the weight of the coating agent. An example in this Patent discloses a melt-coated preparation containing a hardened oil and 0.25 times its weight of sorbic acid.
In the field of bread production, fat-sorbic acid preparations are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,394 describes a melt-coated preparation containing sorbic acid in an amount of 5 to 30% by weight based on the composition, or about 0.43 to 0.05 times the weight of the coating agent, which is produced by spray cooling a molten fat slurry.
A sorbic acid preparation having a sorbic acid content as high as 60 to 95% which corresponds to a sorbic acid to coating agent ratio of 1.5 to 19 is also known (U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,080). However, a preparation having such a high content of sorbic acid has not been realized as a melt-coated preparation. This preparation is a solution-coated preparation obtained by dissolving a fat in a suitable solvent, spraying the solution successively onto powdery sorbic acid to coat it with the solution, and then evaporating the solvent. Such a solution-coated preparation is easier to obtain with a high sorbic acid content than the melt-coated preparation. However, in addition to the productional disadvantages incident to the use of solvent, the thin single-layer coating is susceptible to breakage, and tends to become imperfect. The coating can be made thicker by applying multiple layers, but as the number of layers increases the number of steps increases and it is difficult and time-consuming to secure a sufficient coating thickness. In addition, in the preservation of paste products the presence of a large amount of a fat in the preparation not only increases costs, but also impairs the flavor and taste of the paste products. It is desired to minimize the amount of the unwanted coating agent, and to increase the sorbic acid content, however, because in the preparations of paste products the sorbic acid must not elute in water at room temperature, it is difficult to upgrade the properties of the preparation, such as non-elution at room temperature by forming a solution-coated layer which is thin and is not susceptible to peeling.